The proliferation of electrical appliances, lighting fixtures and electronic entertainment devices has brought with it a rapid increase in the number of electrical line cords and electrical extension cords necessary to service these appliances and devices. It has therefore become increasingly necessary to multiply the number of connections made to standard electrical wall outlets, using extension cords or outlet multiplying devices plugged directly into the wall outlet. While these arrangements provide the necessary multiplication of outlets, the resulting "rat's nest" of wires and plugs is unsightly and sometimes dangerous. Moreover, if a wall outlet is located behind a piece of furniture, it becomes impossible to push the piece of furniture flush against the wall. This leaves an unsightly opening at the rear edge of the piece of furniture into which items can easily fall and from which it is most difficult to retrieve such items.
The advent of grounded outlets, using a third ground socket, aggravates the outlet multiplication problem since the need for a third pin on the plug tends to make the plug bulkier. Moreover, the orientation of the ground socket often makes it difficult or impossible to plug more than one grounded plug into a standard double wall outlet. If the plug makes a right-angled turn at the outlet along a vertical line, for example, only one plug can be inserted into the double outlet due to the interference it causes with a second grounded plug, whether in the bottom or the top socket.